"We didn't get married because we thought life was easy; we got married so that we could be there for each other when things got tough. So we could work through things together, rich or poor."

― Sarah to Chuck when they lost their fortune

Sarah Lisa Bartowski, known as Sarah Bartowski, (formerly Walker), (born May 1982)[1] is a main character and the wife of Chuck Bartowski in the television series Chuck on NBC. Throughout the series, she has revealed that her birth name is Sam Lisa, a surname was never revealed, although the alias Jenny Burton is also a significant one, but mostly for continuity purposes. She appears to have adopted the name Sarah as her permanent name, as even her mother uses it when introducing her to her adoptive sister, albeit somewhat reluctantly.

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Sarah was one of Chuck's government handlers, along with Colonel John Casey of the NSA. The three of them form the CIA-NSA joint-ops team Operation Bartowski.[2] She was assigned the task of protecting Chuck after he had accidentally downloaded the Intersect. This extends to both Casey and Sarah acting on information Chuck "flashes" on.

As part of her cover, Sarah pretended to be Chuck's girlfriend. One of the complications and the main focus on the development of her character throughout the series was that although initially she insisted this was only part of her cover, the two steadily grew closer. While Sarah herself was initially reluctant to either recognize or acknowledge her feelings for Chuck, almost every other main character readily picked up on her attraction to Chuck. Sarah's DEA friend Carina was one of the first to recognize that Sarah's feelings for Chuck are more than merely professional.[3] In "Chuck Versus the DeLorean", Sarah's father realizes she is genuinely attracted to Chuck, and retired agent Roan Montgomery[4] in "Chuck Versus the Seduction" has also recognized that she is falling for him, claiming "the lady doth protest too much". Other notable characters who spot her feelings for Chuck include: Ellie, Casey, MI6 agent Cole Barker, and her own ex-boyfriend Bryce Larkin.[5]

Chuck and Sarah's first kiss.

The development of Chuck and Sarah's relationship in the series was plagued by Sarah's own active love life and Chuck's interest in finding a real relationship, as demonstrated in the episodes "Chuck Versus the Truth" and "Chuck Versus the Ex". However she has displayed a willingness to go to great lengths for him, after the pair commit treason and go on the run in "Chuck Versus the Colonel", and she was even prepared to go rogue and draw her gun on another CIA agent attempting to take him into government custody in "Chuck Versus the Marlin".[6]

In "Chuck Versus the Truth", when Chuck and Sarah are infected by a potentially fatal truth serum, Chuck asks Sarah whether she saw any sort of future with him, after he admits to liking her. Sarah denies any feelings for Chuck, however it is revealed at the end of the episode that Sarah was only able to deny her feelings because part of her CIA training resulted in her being able to withstand the effects of truth serum. Similarly, in "Chuck Versus the Imported Hard Salami", when she believes they are about to be killed by a bomb (later revealed to be a human transport container containing Bryce Larkin) Sarah passionately kisses Chuck.

During the first half of Season Two, Chuck and Sarah steadily began moving towards establishing a real relationship. Sarah agreed to go on a first "real" date with Chuck in "Chuck Versus the First Date" when the Second Intersect was due to go online and he was offered a chance at a real life (in reality, General Beckman ordered Casey to terminate him).[7] However, when The Cipher was found to contain a Fulcrum bug which destroyed the entire Intersect, Casey decided against killing Chuck. In the closing moments of the following episode Roan Montgomery attempted to offer Chuck advice towards pursuing Sarah, which was derailed by Larkin's second return.[4] However unlike during his Season One appearance, this time Sarah's feelings were clearly for Chuck. When Sarah is admitted to hospital in "Chuck Versus the Break-Up", Bryce is spotted by Ellie and Devon lingering outside Sarah's room. When Devon takes him in to examine his cut, he explains that Sarah has feelings for Chuck to Bryce, and this leads Bryce to advise Chuck that a personal relationship between the two of them could endanger their lives.[8]

The following episodes showed that Chuck and Sarah's feelings for each other continued to establish themselves as Chuck found out more about Sarah's past. This is seen most strongly by the emotional support Chuck provides Sarah when a mission in "Chuck Versus the Cougars" forces her to revisit part of her childhood,[9] and later when Sarah's father returns in "Chuck Versus the DeLorean".[10] Although neither Chuck nor Sarah at this point openly told the other they were in love, Chuck strongly suggested this in the mid-season finale "Chuck Versus Santa Claus", when he gave Sarah his mother's charm bracelet, a gift Sarah says is something he should save for a "real girlfriend.", to which Chuck responds "I know."[11] In "Chuck Versus the Lethal Weapon", Chuck tells Sarah that he's crazy about her, and tells her that when he gets the Intersect out of his head he's "going to live the life that [he] want[s] with the girl that [he] love[s]."

Sarah's personal feelings for Chuck led to her temporary replacement as Chuck's handler in "Chuck Versus the Broken Heart", as Beckman was concerned those feelings jeopardized the mission. However the replacement agent, Alexandra Forrest, (Tricia Helfer) failed to effectively protect Chuck and he refused to work with her because of her ruthless operating procedure and lack of emotion. Sarah's feelings also gave her a close insight that ended up warning her that Chuck had been abducted when he left his phone in his room. Beckman reluctantly acknowledged Sarah and Chuck's feelings for each other were actually a benefit to their working relationship rather than a danger, and allowed Sarah to resume her role as his handler. During this time Sarah made an unauthorized search of the CIA database at Langley to locate Chuck's father when his own efforts failed. She was with Chuck when they tracked him down to a trailer east of Barstow, CA.

Sarah's willingness to provide support for Chuck during "Chuck Versus the Dream Job" when he met his father again accentuated her feelings for him, however neither Chuck nor Sarah acted on this. In "Chuck Versus the Colonel", General Beckman ordered Sarah to lure Chuck to Castle so he could be taken into custody and brought back to Washington. Sarah objected, and although she tried to go through with her orders, in the end her feelings for Chuck meant she had to warn him that he was in danger, and the pair went on the run, whilst Casey was tasked with finding them.[12]

While on the run, Chuck and Sarah spent the night in a motel, and were forced to shared a bed. In the morning, no longer able to hold in their feelings for each other, they began making out passionately. They would have had sex, but when Chuck searched his wallet for a condom, all he found was an "IOU" note from Morgan. In "Chuck Versus the Ring", Sarah was reassigned by Beckman to work on the new Intersect project with Bryce, but when questioned by Bryce at Ellie's wedding, she revealed she had chosen to stay with Chuck. At the reception, Chuck told his father that he was in love with Sarah.

The first half of Season Three saw Chuck and Sarah's relationship with each other collapsed. In "Chuck Versus the Pink Slip", it is revealed that 6 months earlier, when Chuck downloaded Intersect 2.0 into his head and was offered spy training in Prague by General Beckman, Sarah was worried that it would change his personality if he became a real spy. She offered to meet him at a Prague train station in three weeks, and the pair would run away with each other under new identities. Whilst Chuck initially accepted, he turned up at the train station and refuses to go with Sarah, citing this as his one chance to become a real spy. As such, Sarah felt betrayed and was emotionally cold to Chuck, especially in the first few episodes of the season.

Chuck realized he lost his chance to be with Sarah later in "Chuck Versus the Pink Slip", and entered a state of depression, not bothering to shave or shower. He attempted to call her at one stage, but she threw her phone in the swimming pool when she realized it was him. However, Chuck eventually came to the conclusion that he had to do something if he wants to be with Sarah, and as such ambushed Casey and Sarah's mission to try and talk to Sarah. However, she was not interested, and told Casey to throw him out of the restaurant. Chuck flashed just as he was kicked out and realized that the courier who Casey and Sarah expected to find meeting with a Ring associate was in fact an assassin. Chuck managed to get back into the restaurant by posing as the guitar player for the band performing that night, and when he saw the assassin's laser sights flickering between Sarah's head and the marks, he threw himself off the stage and onto Sarah to protect her. Despite possibly saving her life, Sarah was angry that he jeopardized the mission.[13]

In "Chuck Versus the Three Words", when Sarah's DEA friend Carina Miller returned to perform a mission with Team Bartowski, Chuck attempted on numerous occasions to talk to Sarah about his feelings. Sarah was unwilling to do so, however, and Carina informed Chuck that this is because she still loved him. Later, when Chuck is locked in a vault which is quickly filling with poisonous gas and he believed he might die, he attempted to talk to Sarah through the vault door and explained all his feelings for her. However, in reality, she was not behind the vault door, instead she was in the ventilation shaft above, turning off the valve releasing the poisonous gas to save Chuck. She then managed to take out the guards opening the vault doors, and opens the doors herself, just as Chuck finished his speech with the words "I love you" and collapsed onto her. Later, in Castle when Chuck is recovering from gas inhalation, Sarah held a private video conference with General Beckman, where she requested a transfer due to Chuck's feelings for her. She realized Chuck was listening in, but continued anyway. Beckman refused to transfer her, telling her to get on with her job.[14]

In the next two episodes, "Chuck Versus the Angel of Death" and "Chuck Versus Operation Awesome", however, Sarah warmed to Chuck once more, even comforting him when he refused to allow Devon to work on behalf of the CIA or NSA. However, when Chuck met Hannah in his first solo mission on a flight to Paris, they began a relationship, which effectively put a romance between Chuck and Sarah on hold.[15] To add to this, in "Chuck Versus the Fake Name", Sarah revealed her apparent real name (Sam) to Daniel Shaw, (which is later proven to be false in "Chuck Versus the Baby"), something she never told Chuck, and the two began a relationship of their own, however, Chuck had just ended his relationship with Hannah to be with Sarah. In "Chuck Versus the American Hero", when Shaw found out that Sarah inadvertently killed his wife (Evelyn Shaw) in her red test, their relationship ended, and Shaw began to plot revenge against her. He lead her to a warehouse, which he proclaimed as the Ring headquarters. When they entered, Sarah believed it to be a trap, however, Shaw revealed that she killed his wife and she apologized profusely, before the two share an embrace. Chuck, believing Shaw planned to kill Sarah at this point, turned up along with several dozen soldiers, having requested air support and a tank to rescue Sarah.

In "Chuck Versus the Other Guy", Shaw kidnapped Sarah in Paris and attempted to kill her. However, Casey and Chuck arrived, and whilst Casey dealt with the Ring director, Chuck shot and presumed to have killed Shaw, saving Sarah's life. At the end of the episode, the pair finally began a proper relationship. "Chuck Versus the Honeymooners" views Chuck and Sarah attempting to run away from the spy life together, however they both realized that they want to be spies and be together, and so, in "Chuck Versus the Role Models", Beckman ordered them to observe Craig and Laura Turner, a married couple who also happened to be spies. However, the Turners bitter relationship with each other forces Chuck and Sarah to worry their relationship may follow a similar route.

"Chuck Versus the Tooth" highlighted Sarah's protectiveness towards Chuck, when his mental condition degraded as a result of the Intersect damaging his brain. When he was admitted to a mental hospital after having disturbing dreams relating to a possible Ring agent, she not only visited him but also visited the psychiatrist Dr. Leo Dreyfus (Christopher Lloyd).

Throughout Season Four, Sarah establishes herself more and more as Chuck's partner in the field, as she was to Bryce and Shaw on several missions. Sarah is very protective of Chuck, and she spends much of the season keeping him from blindly trusting his mother, Mary Bartowski (Linda Hamilton), who is working with international arms dealer Alexei Volkoff (Timothy Dalton).

Season Four also shows, several times, that Sarah is willing to do anything for him. When Chuck is kidnapped by The Belgian, she loses all reservations trying to rescue him, breaking the law repeatedly, and even torturing someone. Later, in order to bring down Volkoff, as well as return Chuck his Mother, she had to establish herself as a double agent in order to begin working inside Volkoff Industries.

In "Chuck Versus the Push Mix", Chuck proposes to Sarah and they get engaged. In "Chuck Versus the Seduction Impossible", Sarah and Chuck comes to a disagreement about eloping. By the end of "Chuck Versus the Seduction Impossible", Sarah agrees to the family wedding and letting Chuck into her past. In "Chuck Versus the Cat Squad", Chuck invites Sarah's old squad, the C.A.T. Squad to help her find friends for the wedding. This becomes a disastrous event when the squad is forced into a mission to capture their nemesis, Augusto Gaez. Zondra and Sarah's conflict is reignited. At the end, the C.A.T. squad discovers the mole, Zondra and Sarah becomes friends again. Carina and Zondra agrees to be Sarah's bridesmaids.

By "Chuck Versus the Family Volkoff", Sarah hands Chuck a prenuptial agreement to sign. Chuck signs the prenup without "talking about it" which throws Sarah off. Sarah admits that it was unusual and it gave her Chuck's point of view on the prenup. At the end of the episode, Sarah tears the prenup and tells Chuck to forget about it.

In "Chuck Versus the Wedding Planner", Chuck and Sarah are conned of their wedding money by their wedding planner. They accidentally get every branch of the US government involved to search for their wedding planner. They get suspended for abusing their position in the agency. Sarah's father discovers about their wedding and helps them to get back to the CIA. Sarah's father leaves Sarah and gives her money for her wedding.

During their rehearsal dinner in "Chuck Versus the Last Details", Vivian Volkoff uses the Norseman on Sarah. While Ellie and Devon are able to keep her alive, she goes into a coma. Chuck, along with Casey and Mary, goes rogue in order to get the antidote, breaking Volkoff out of captivity, blackmailing the CIA, even turning himself in to Vivian, and eventually using a Russian special forces team to deliver the antidote. The entire team is fired, but Chuck cures Sarah and marries her. As a wedding gift, Hartley hands over all 877 million dollars from Volkoff industries allowing them to run their own freelance spy agency, Carmichael Industries.

Sarah's devotion to the spy life wanes, subtly at first, but much more pronounced in later episodes. Her decisions become more geared towards using her emotions and believing in her friends rather than relying on distrust, suspicion and self-sufficiency. The start of this mind set began most notably in "Chuck Versus the Frosted Tips", when she believed (correctly) that Morgan's drastic change in attitude was due more to a malfunctioning Intersect than a power trip, even when Chuck believed that Morgan was simply acting like an over-confident ass.

She further displays a dislike for her spy life when she asks Chuck not to get reintegrated with the CIA. This dislike proceeds further as she suggests that Carmichael Industries become a Electronic Security Company, focusing on Chuck's primary strength with computers, and minimizing the amount of gunplay they would be subjected to in "Chuck Versus Bo". However, Nicholas Quinn's emergence and the reintroduction of the Intersect glasses leads to the team having a "last mission", which was successful, though Quinn kidnaps Chuck in exchange for the glasses; pinned down with limited ammunition, Sarah is forced to upload the Intersect in order to save everyone.

Unfortunately, during the mission to rescue Chuck, Sarah is captured by Quinn, who realizes that she has the faulty Intersect and forces her to look at Intersect images to further increase her memory loss and manipulate her into his minion­. He has her attempt to steal the Intersect and kill Team Bartowski. However, Chuck had swapped the Intersect glasses she took, but she later held Ellie hostage. As they drive to where Chuck hid the glasses, Ellie chooses to crash her car, as Sarah was not wearing a seatbelt, knocking her out. Chuck then takes her back to their dream home, hoping to coax her memories back. But when he lets her go, she attacks him and steals back the glasses. She then notices the carving she and Chuck made into the wall earlier and started to remember. Quinn soon tracked her down, took the glasses, before admitting he lied to her and fled.

Sarah then started pursuing Quinn, learning that he's trying to reassemble The Key, a device that can modify the Intersect's original function. When she fails to stop him on a plane, she returns to Chuck to ask for his help. They track Quinn to Berlin, where by coincidence, she started re-enacting the events from the pilot. However, she made the mistake assuming that Chuck would kill Quinn, not only allowing him to escape, but accidentally shooting down Casey's helicopter. Locked back in Castle, Sarah was convinced to work with the team as they tried to stop Quinn. Later, Sarah was forced to shoot Quinn when he went for his gun, ruining their chances of deactivating the bomb Beckman was sitting under. Chuck, who wished to modify the Intersect to implant Sarah's lost memories in her brain, realised he must use it to defuse the bomb and save Beckman and uploads it to himself.

Afterwards, Sarah feels unsure of herself because her memories have still not returned. Chuck finds her on the beach and tells her to "trust him" like she did when they first met. Sarah asks Chuck to tell her about their story, to which he agrees. Sarah is clearly moved by Chuck's recounting of their relationship, from their first encounter at the Buy More to their wedding and life as husband and wife. She is seen both laughing and crying. When he has finished, Chuck tells her that Morgan believes that her memories will return if Chuck kisses her. He tries to laugh the idea off, but Sarah stops him short and asks him to kiss her. The series ends as Chuck and Sarah kiss on the beach, implying a new beginning for the couple; whether it means that Sarah's memories will continue to come back, or she will have to fall in love with Chuck all over again, remains unknown.

On February 12, 2007 Australian actress Yvonne Strahovski was announced[16] for what was then the role of "Sarah Kent," joining Zachary Levi (Chuck) and Adam Baldwin (Maj. John Casey). Prior to beginning of filming the character's name was changed to Sarah Walker. Strahovski was unable to come to the US for audition so the producers allowed her to make her audition via the internet.[17] The character is a reversal of typical action film gender roles, with Sarah Walker portraying the protector and fighter while Chuck is the more emotional "brain".

Strahovski herself is highly active and performs all her own fight scenes. She considers this one of her favorite parts of the role, especially the fight scene in "Chuck Versus the First Date" against Michael Clark Duncan's towering Mr. Colt.[18] She also speaks fluent Polish, which she worked into the role in the Season One episode "Chuck vs. the Wookie."

Very little of Sarah's background was revealed in Season One other than her relationship with Bryce Larkin and middle name. However, real attention was paid to her past in the first half of Season Two. In June 2008, Nicole Richie was announced to be appearing in a role as a former classmate of Sarah from high school,[19] and in September, Gary Cole was revealed to be playing Sarah's father, Jack Burton in "Chuck Versus the DeLorean".[20] To-date the only part of Sarah's name that has been revealed are her first and middle names, Sam Lisa, with her last name still unknown. It has not been announced if the name Graham hints at on her birth certificate is actually her real name, or if it will ever be revealed. Season 5 introduced Sarah's mother, Emma and gave the last bit of information on Sarah's life before the show. Only five episodes, "Chuck Versus the Cougars", "Chuck Versus the DeLorean", "Chuck Versus the Balcony", "Chuck Versus the Wedding Planner" and "Chuck Versus the Baby" have provided any significant amount of information on the character's past, and most of her development has focused on the character's relationship with Chuck.

Jonathan Cake appeared as an MI-6 agent named Cole Barker as part of a three-episode story arc, in which the agent will be catching Sarah's eye. This was followed by an appearance by Battlestar Galactica actress Tricia Helfer, who will be playing Alexandra Forrest, a CIA agent assigned by General Beckman to take over as Chuck's CIA handler. Agent Forrest was assigned due to Beckman's concerns over the developing relationship between Sarah and Chuck.[21]

By Season Four, Sarah becomes more and more developed towards her relationship with Chuck. She becomes unusually hostile and has even been dubbed as a "Giant blonde she-male" throughout Thailand on her search for a kidnapped Chuck. At the end of "Chuck Versus the Balcony", Sarah volunteers in a mission to bring down Volkoff Industries - the main antagonist of the first half of the fourth season, to help Chuck get his mother back from years of undercover work. In "Chuck Versus the Gobbler", Sarah has become a double agent under a setup by General Beckman and herself to have her become an agent working for Alexei Volkoff.

Although a highly-trained and competent CIA agent, Sarah is capable of being warm, kind and compassionate, although se can return to her former ruthless self when required.[11] She lacks Chuck's openly trusting nature but displays a great deal of intuitiveness about others' character: Sarah quickly recognized that Chuck was just a regular guy and not a threat, and chose to protect him from the NSA hit team led by John Casey.[22] She is also shown to be much more empathetic and sympathetic to Chuck's plight than Casey, and is highly protective of her asset, to an extent beyond the requirements of her mission to safeguard him. Where Casey only seems concerned with physical threats to Chuck's safety (things that might cost the government the use of the Intersect information in Chuck's head), Sarah is more concerned for him as an individual. She typically objects to any orders by Graham and Beckman to put him in dangerous situations and openly warned both Lou[23] and Jill[24]—with whom Chuck carried on brief relationships—not to hurt him. In "Chuck Versus the Broken Heart", John Casey tells Chuck's replacement handler Alex Forrest, that Sarah was the best agent he has ever worked with.

Sarah is quick to acknowledge and reinforce Chuck's own abilities beyond the Intersect, and has told him on several occasions that he is a hero as well as an excellent spy.[7][25] During a hostage situation at the Buy More Sarah promised to Chuck that she would never let anyone hurt him and proved determined and willing to go to any extreme to protect him. This is demonstrated when she cold-bloodedly kills an unarmed enemy agent (who had learned Chuck was the Intersect and threatened to reveal the secret to his entire organization) in order to protect Chuck.[11] Although she has denied any romantic interest in Chuck several times, even justifying some of her actions as a result of acting impusively, she seems to be unable to fool other characters, notably Ellie, Carina, Roan Montgomery, Bryce and Casey. On many occasions she openly acknowledges a desire to remain friendly with Chuck on a personal level, until the end of the second season, when she and Chuck share several intimate moments. She objects to lying or concealing information from Chuck and using him without his knowledge under orders from her superiors.

Only little information about Sarah's real life has been revealed in the course of the series, and as a result she is shown to be highly secretive, with a past built around false identities. She jealously guards her personal life and even violently threatened Chuck when he attempted to learn more about her.[9] As a nod to continuity when Sarah does talk to Chuck about her past and family, she continues to use the name "Burton", as it has not at the time been revealed to Chuck that even Jenny Burton is not her real name.[10][11] Chuck has observed that she likes extra pickles on her burgers and doesn't like olives as seen on the back of his tron poster. She is also a fan of rocky road ice cream.

Sarah on many occasions has shown to become very frustrated when the people close to her keep secrets, especially Chuck. Which is ironic, seeing how closely she guards her own mysterious past. Whenever it seems Chuck is keeping things from her Sarah goes to great lengths to find out why and what Chuck is hiding. When Chuck and Morgan were secretly searching for the dream house for Chuck and Sarah, Sarah found out quite quickly and when direct questioning didn't work, she seduced the answers out of Chuck. Whenever it is revealed that Chuck has been keeping things from her or lying to her, Sarah is shown to be very hurt, especially after she found out from Shaw that Chuck had lied to her about how the Intersect 2.0 was effecting his brain.

Her family information is just as scarce. In the episode "Chuck Versus the Cougars", we first see the back of her father being taken away by the ATF. We first see him in "Chuck Versus the DeLorean", when he is visiting Sarah in Burbank. He is a con man and a pickpocket who isn't aware of his daughter's job. He guesses that she's "some kind of cop" which Chuck confirms. Sarah's mother was never mentioned until "Chuck Versus the Balcony", where she tells Chuck her mother's family owned a restaurant from which her mother and her family escaped from her dad's "nightmare proposal" with only minor burns. She is only formally introduced in "Chuck Versus the Baby".

Sarah has also been shown to mask her emotions and she seldom lets anyone in close enough to see how she genuinely feels. Bryce Larkin,[8] Casey,[23] Carina,[3] Roan Montgomery,[4] and even her father[10] have all had dialog pointing out that she is indeed in love with Chuck, although Sarah herself wouldn't admit it until Season 3. Her father even commented on how he "Made a $10 million bet" that Chuck loved his daughter. However Chuck is also one of the few people she's also allowed to get close to her, and in the few times she has been in a vulnerable state Chuck has been the one there to offer comfort. Unlike Casey, who she insultingly describes as a "burnout,"[22] Sarah has not completely shut herself off from her emotions.

She is skilled in a variety of espionage techniques, and is adept at taking on different roles and covers. Sarah's current cover previously had her working at the Wienerlicious[26]—a restaurant across the street from the Buy More where Chuck works—and later at a frozen yogurt shop called the Orange Orange.[27] She has also portrayed a ditsy party-goer,[3] the receptionist and personal assistant to "Mr. Lichtenstein",[10] a hotel staff member,[28] a call girl,[24] a waitress, a scientist,[29][30] and a member of the Nerd Herd.[31] Sarah has also used her appearance both as a distraction and an angle on missions as well, at times flirting with or seducing the team's targets when needed.[3][25][32] Sarah speaks several languages, including Polish (Strahovski herself was born to Polish parents),[3] Russian[28] and German,[10][33] and can easily turn on a convincing Australian accent, as Strahovski herself is Australian-born.[29] In "Chuck Versus the Angel of Death" she reveals to have spent a year on Secret Service detail.

Sarah is highly skilled in hand-to-hand combat, including against multiple enemies and even managed to hold the substantially larger Colt at bay.[7] She is also a very good shot with extensive firearms training. Most notable is her expertise in the use of throwing knives, the extent of which caused Stephen Bartowski to assume she had an Intersect as well, and is one of the skills witnessed by Graham that led him to recruit her into the CIA.[9] She typically wears several in a sheath strapped to her lower leg when her wardrobe allows,[9][22] and has also used specially-designed hair pins for the same purpose. Sarah has also shown that she is a skilled pilot as she talks Chuck through the procedure of landing a helicopter and takes control of a 747 plane.[22] Sarah's favored side arm throughout the series is the Smith & Wesson Model 5906.

Several episodes have implied that Sarah misses or envies the "normal" life Chuck desires to return to. There are indications that she is concerned that Chuck's experiences in espionage work might not only threaten him physically, but might also disillusion him and destroy his kind, trusting nature (for example, his being used and betrayed on a personal level by Jill Roberts threatening to destroy his idealistic views and tendency to trust others). Mostly she fears that his involvment in the spy world will change him into someone she could no longer recognise, akin to her own experience. She has also displayed domestic skills, and is a skilled cook.[34]

There have been various hints to Sarah's resemblance with Chuck when it comes to their curious and justifying behavior. In "Chuck Versus the A-Team", she and Chuck realize that Casey has been going on missions without them. Sarah expresses an extreme amount of curiosity on the situation, as did Chuck. The two agree to tail Casey, where they follow him to where Casey's mission is. The two got themselves into trouble as they unveil themselves when they believed Casey was in trouble, however, two of the guards in the area shot everyone in the room just before unveiling themselves to be Casey's teammate on the covert operation. Throughout the episode, both Chuck and Sarah feel neglected and pushed aside as Casey's new team from the NCS begin to take their spotlight. The two take this as a competition. By the end of the episode, they finally managed to prove their team's superiority, ultimately leading to the NCS team being disbanded, and Casey returning to Team Bartowski.

Sarah Walker has long blonde hair that parts in the middle in the first four seasons. It was sometimes up in a ponytail. It is now cut short, up to her neck. She has blue eyes, and keeps herself slim and in shape by working out in her apartment or sometimes sparring with Casey in Castle.